Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Without further ado, I present the recipe for the best shake I've ever had, created especially for me by Ashley Anne Fuller. She once heard me say that a lemon meringue pie shake I'd had at Holstein's in Las Vegas was the best thing I'd ever tasted (or something hyperbolic like that) and that after that first taste, Holstein's never had it on the menu again and no one there could remember how to make it (or so they told me). So AA tried to make my shake dreams come true by recreating the magic--AND SHE NAILED IT! Or made it better. I couldn't tell how AA's shake compared with Holstein's when I drank AA's (a) I'd had my first lemon meringue pie shake in 2011, so it'd been a while; and (b) I was too busy saying "oh my goodness" to do much thinking/comparing. But let me tell you this--I don't like lemon meringue pie (nor does Ashley Anne), but we both loved this. And we're still thinking and talking about it.

Blend these ingredients. Add milk or ice cream or lemon or lemon juice or lemon curd until it tastes awesome and is the consistency you want. (Ashley Anne was tweaking the flavor for almost 20 minutes before it tasted like a sweet punch of bright lemony/vanilla magic. Her palate may not be yours, so keep testing/tasting/trying.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a
large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles tiny
peas. (Or pulse several times in food processor.) Combine egg yolk,
water, and lemon juice with a fork. Sprinkle egg yolk mixture over flour
mixture and stir together with a fork until it forms a ball. (Or pulse
again in food processor until it clumps together.)

Roll out between two pieces of parchment (or on floured
surface), sprinkle with sugar, cut into triangles or other fun shapes,
and bake for 7-8 mins or until golden brown.